The Storm
Over a month had passed and the sea life was getting accustomed to Evan. Now he felt less nausea after waking up and the food was now used to him.
He would wake up around eight in the morning, brush his teeth, clean up his body, do some exercises and then have breakfast with everyone. He encountered the Marquis many times during this time but they did not mother with each other.
After breakfast, Evan would spend some time with his officers and talk about what they would be doing in India, then he would get back to the cabin and read the many books he had brought with him to read.
He would take a nap in the afternoon and stroll on the deck at the night. One of the things Evan liked about being in the middle of the sea was the starry sky he would get to see every night. He would generally lie down on the upper deck and just gaze at the beautiful sky.
There wasn't much to do for entertainment in the middle of nowhere, But days were going by just fine. This was a new experience for him and despite some inconveniences, he was trying to take in the new experience.
One month had passed and the ship's captain had recently everyone that the first stop of the ship would soon arrive in a few days.
Evan was very happy to know that he would finally be able to go on land for a while. The one month was rather arduous and unforgettable and Evan was itching to get some fresh air.
This was also another day except the sky was getting darker and darker with time. What was a normal sunny day a few hours ago had completely transformed into what seemed to be an emerging storm?
Yes... a storm, which is the nightmare of every sailor. Storms were especially dangerous in the 18th century as the ships were still made of wood and weren't sturdy enough to survive a very intense storm.
The bell was sounded from the captain's cabin which signified that everyone would gather. Everyone gathered on the deck writing for the captain to arrive.
The sound of thunderclap suddenly sounded as the dark turbulent clouds roared above everyone's head. Many people were rather nervous as this was their first voyage out in the seas. The increasing wind and the turbulent weaves only increased everyone's nervousness.
The captain the crew and a few guards also arrived on the deck. Everyone stopped making sounds and waited for him to speak.
Captain Jacob had a sturdy build with strong arms and legs. He had a dense and full-grown beard on a slightly big face which was adorned with few scars. Captain Jacob was very calm and his posture was somewhat similar to Evan's.
"Hello everyone, I am your captain and it seems we will be having bad weather today. But there is no need to worry as I have plenty of experience with storms at sea." Captain Jacob said.
People began to murmur between themselves when their suspicions were confirmed. A storm in the middle of the sea would steer up anyone.
"Silence!" He shouted, his voice was very intimidating, and especially in this kind of situation it was very effective as everyone shut their mouths at once.
"Now all of ya are to go into your rooms and close the damn windows shut. Gather all your valuable stuff and put it in a waterproof bag for safekeeping. When y'all go to your rooms, don't just sit still... you gotta hold on to something so that you won't crack up your head after bumping around into the wall or something" Jacob said with a laugh, but no one laughed at the joke with him.
As if his mood was damned, he shrugged and clapped loudly and said, "Well? Watcha lookin at mah face for, eay? Now get going! come on people!" He said and went into action to prepare for the storm.
All the passengers did as they were instructed. But Evan did not move and looked at Jacob carefully, his officers including James also stayed behind with him.
"Hey! Didn't ya hear me, boy?" Jacob came to Evan and asked frowningly.
One must know that punishments on a ship were very harsh and someone could get flogged for disobeying the captain's orders. The worst case could even result in execution.
"Sir! How may we help?" Evan said as he did a navy salute. He thought it would be the best way to show cooperation in such states.
Jacob was very surprised to see Evan do a Navy Salute to him. Some past memories rushed into his mind but this was no time to dilly-dally.
"How did you know?" Jacob asked.
"It's not very hard to recognize one's own kind, captain," Evan said, another booming sound of thunder sounded. The brutal rain and wind would begin at any moment now with the roaring sea on top.
"Ah, I remember you now. You're the Norton boy eeh? well good. The more hands we have, the safer we will be." Jacob said and gestured at the pedals which were occupied by the ship's crew to manually control the ship on both sides.
Evan and his men also got to some peddle and got ready to act on the supervisor's instructions. Jacob went to the ship's control area and gave out orders in rapid fire.
The sails were reduced first thing first, the uppermost masts and riggings were brought down and stowed away to reduce the weight. Then the ship was stopped with the bow pointed close to the wind as a few small sails were set to keep the ship pointed that way. a sail aft was set to point the ship toward the wind and one to the opposite to keep the ship from turning into the wind.
This was done to help the ship to take the waves on the bow, which is the ship's strongest part.
The clouds were roaring even more loudly with occasional thunder and churning and even the wind could be felt blowing with incredible speed. The ship had also begun to shake slightly.